BOOKS.

TOWNSEND'S RAMBLES IN NEW 13017TH WALES.* Bin. TOWNSEND is a nephew of Mr. Jesse, so well known for his works on natural history; and he possesses much of his uncle's love for rural scenery and his inclination to observe the external phoenomena and habits of ani- mals, with the kindly feeling which these tastes tend to generate. Mr. Townsend's visit to New South Wales, however, was not for the purpose of agreeable study or the acquisition of fortune. He seems to have gone thither in search of health, and to have passed his time pleasantly enough in its pursuit. His first visit was to the settlement of a relation at Ulla- dulla, a place about a hundred and fifty miles South of Sydney ; where he remained for some time, observing and helping. He then made an ex- cursion still further Southward ; and subsequently paid a long visit to the river Hunter, lying North of Sydney. His field of observation, including various trips to intermediate points, embraced nearly the whole of the settled district of the colony along the coast. He also passed into the pure "squatting" region; but he does not seem to have penetrated far into the interior. The result of Mr. Townsend's rambles is one of the best books on the colony of New South Wales that has appeared. It has not, indeed, the interest of adventure which characterizes the narratives of explorers, or the vigorous and racy composition of Mr. Hood ; neither does it enter so minutely into domestic life and social manners as Mrs. Meredith. But it is far superior to the numerous sketches of the country and people by different visiters, who have recorded the results of their experience. This may in part be owing to the length of Mr. Townsend's sojourn, which extended to upwards of four years, and in part to the fact that he seems to be neither a disappointed nor an interested man. The main source of the attraction of his book, however, is in himself. He has read- ing and a cultivated taste; he has the feelings and retenue of respect- ability. He makes fair allowance for the effect of circumstances and human nature, without compromising truth either in climate, men, or officials,—for the last in their politic capacity fall into the category of "nil humauum." He perceives, with every one, the peculiarities that external circumstances enforce upon colonists ; but, unlike many colonial visiters, he also perceives the essential advantages and characteristics that lurk below them. Hence the value of Mr. Townsend's book, both as a picture of external things and as furnishing a really informing though not systematic view of the colony, and what may be expected there, or should be done.

This view is not encouraging, except to the labourer, or to the adven- turer, either with capital or without, who is prepared to change his mind as well as his climate. From incidental descriptions, as well as from di- rect remark, it would appear that a workman, who can do well at home, had better remain; not because his material prosperity will not be im- proved in New South Wales, but because almost everything will be new to him and feel strange : the exception is, a workman with a family of children. But even a labourer or a workman must not expect that all will be smooth sailing ; he will find much at first that is awkward in his work, and he will not be able to settle himself where be likes. The adventurer of a higher grade, without capital, will probably have to sink himself at first in colonial status, certainly very grievously in his own estimation. Those who have capital cannot apply it profitably with- out some experience; which they had better gain by riding about the country (as it can be done at little expense) till they get a general idea of the staple classes of industry—farming, sheep-grazing, and cattle-breed- ing. When they have ascertained which pursuit is likely to suit them, they should reside for some time on a farm or station of the class of in- dustry they determine to pursue, in order to gain practical knowledge; previous old country experience being useless. The capital required in Mr. Townsend's estimate seems large. He says he would not embark in squatting (sheep or cattle breeding) unless he "possessed twenty thou- sand pounds ; and then," he continues, "I should sell off and leave such a business as soon as I had secured a certain amount of profit : for in a new country such as New South Wales everything is constantly va- cillating, and the chances cannot be-calculated as in an old country." A cleared farm in a district free from the danger of drought, and within reach of a market, may be purchased at ten pounds an acre; so that a farm of a hundred acres will require a capital of from twelve to fifteen hundred pounds, to avoid that source of ruin in Australia, debt. But it is a safe speculation, and will furnish a comfortable living: or such a farm may be rented ; but we question whether it would yield much money surplus. There is also, as is well known, a sort of metayer system with sheep ; the great squatter receiving small flocks and dividing the profits : but this is riskful, especially if the station is at a distance from the domi- cile of the speculator, from the low morale of the colony. In short, New South Wales is the place for a man to make a much more comfortable living, or a larger profit, than at home ; but he must give up many home comforts, and apply himself with energy. The day for great fortunes seems to have palmed in Australia, if it ever existed save as an exception ; but some of the successes are splendid. The following picture of an Australian magnate's estate is more attractive than a great grant from those old colonists Rollo or William the Norman.

"Another twenty-five miles brings us to the banks of the Sboalhaven, on which are rich allnvial fiats, and a farm that cannot be equalled in the colony, nor yet excelled in England. The owners of this noble property hold, as freehold, eighty thousand acres of fine land, of which twenty thousand are naturally clear and fit for the plough; and I speak within bounds when I say that on the estate are five thousand acres of white clover. This, indeed, spreads so fast, that in a few years the greater part of the property will be covered with it; but a mixture of clover and rye-grass is preferred. On this estate, and on the adjoining waste lands, are maintained upwards of three thousand head of cattle, and several herds

• Rambles and Observations in New South Wales; with Sketches of Men and Man. ners, Notices of the Aborigines, Glimpses of Scenery, and some Hints to Enuarants. By Joseph Phipps Townsend. Published by Chapman and Hall,

of horses. Wheat and maize are grown in great quantities ; and the fields, when waving with these luxuriant crops, present a noble appearance, which is moat striking when one enters the farm from the Southward, after a wearisome jour- ney through a barren country. Large sums of money have been expended in draining the flats ; but the surface of the swamps which now produce luxuriant clover has actually been paddled by the tread of cattle, until thus a crust has been formed over them. A bullock will scramble in safety through a swamp which would prove fatal to a horse ; and the often repeated passage of cattle does in the course of time render the face of a swamp safe even for him. Thus I have known a safe crossing-place to be formed in the soft bottom of a small tidal river by frequently driving cattle through it; but, if a horseman deviated either to the right or to the left of the crossing-place, he would probably lose his steed.

" Great pains have been taken to improve the breed of cattle on this estate; and bulls have been imported from England at great expense. 'Ella,' a short- horned Durham, is a splendid creature, and cost 5001.; and there are also some beautiful Ayrshire bulls. Choice animals of this description are kept for sale, in an extensive clover paddock devoted to them alone ; and to this place they be- come so attached that there is a difficulty in removing them, even in the company of cows. Some of the bullocks, reared and fed on the swamps, attain a great size, and a few weigh fifteen hundredweight ; and the rolls of fat on their backs form hollows something like a saucer. From the woods that skirt the swamps they come out to feed; and during the heat of the day retire into them to rest and enjoy the shade. * * • A large dairy is kept on foot, where often two hundred cows are milked, but only once a day; for after the morning's milk is taken from them, the calves are allowed to run with them until night. These cows yield about two gallons of milk each per day; and under another system would doubtless give more. The skim-milk feeds a little army of pigs. Many beautiful mares are to be found amongst the herds of horses; and when I last visited the property, a stallion from the English turf was in the stalls. The horses bred on this property attain a good size; their points are well developed, and many have been sent to India.

"The owners of this estate reside in an excellent brick house, which crowns a rising ground. Their hospitality is unbounded; and the travellers' room,' with its neat and clean beds, has been the place of rest of many a weary pilgrim. Well-built cottages have been erected in convenient situations for the accommoda- tion of the different superintendents. The garden is large, and exceedingly pro- ductive; indeed, with such a soil, with moisture and a hot sun, what may not be expected ? The prolific nature of the soil and climate is evidenced by the fact that a peach-tree bears in the second year after the stone from which it sprung has been sown ; and to the climate, as well as to the abundance of fine feed, the large size of the cattle is no doubt to be attributed."

Like many sojourners in these Colonies, Mr. Townsend is wroth with what he calls the Wakefield system, though he has not taken the trouble to learn what it is. The auction plan, of which he complains, is quite contrary to the Wakefield system; and is vehemently condemned by its author, as, amongst other evils, demoralizing. A " sufficient " price to prevent too great a dispersion of agricultural settlers, is the essence of the Wakefield system ; even the application of the fund to the importation of labourers being of a secondary nature. And this "suffi- cient" price cannot be fixed, says its author, it priori : it must be settled by circumstances, or in the last resource by experiment, and clanged ac- cording to the changing nature of the case. See what is palmed off as the Wakefield system, by the Colonial Office and its agents ! "Manta is rather famous in colonial annals for the immense prices obtained by the Government for plots of land in the town that ought to have sprung up there. This embryo town consists of a few scattered cottages; and land that once fetched 4001. an acre might now be had for an old song. When the Government could sell no more land there at a high price, it offered to sell at a tenth of what had been its highest reserved bid, and at a fiftieth part of what it had once sold at;

thus depreciating the value of all former purchases. * • •

"At Jervis Bay, which is not far from the Shoalhaven, are five towns; but amongst them all are but two inhabited houses. The temptation here was the fine bay, and it was supposed that it would be the outlet of the country in the interior. The architects of these aerial towns were often greedy 'land-sharks,' who richly deserved the pillory ; but the originators of others were sometimes themselves as much deceived as those they gulled, and really believed that, if a place had natural advantages, it would and must go ahead, by some strange means or other. They seem not to have considered the means by which it could be peopled, or paying employment (and this is the rub) secured either to its in- habitants or to an outlying rural population. But in which category are we to place the Government? It was surely its duty to discourage in the young oolony, which it had at nurse, a mania for speculation in land, which reduced it to a state of syncope. Its policy was the reverse of this. It carried on the auctioneer- ing business to the utmost of its power."

This seems more like a swindling system than any plan of coloniza- tion whatever. Indeed, it appears clear from Mr. Townsend's facts in

connexion with land and settling topics, that the Government officials, having seen the capability of colonial waste land as a means of raising money, have worked it with all the unscrupulous arts that accompanied the old lotteries, and all the hard indifference popularly ascribed to the " taxgatherer."

A great want in New South Wales is want of money. The same com- plaint is indeed pretty general in all countries; but in old countries it is rather money's worth than money which is wanted. In the colony there would seem to be "sterling" value, not realizable in "currency." "There are rich alluvial fiats on the banks of the Ilornya, some of which at the period of my visit were let to tenants at the annual rent of thirty shillings an acre. They were planted with potatoes; but some of these small tenants were then absolutely going away, leaving their crops, which were good, in the heads of their landlord. Potatoes brought two pounds per ton in Sydney, where was the

only market for them; and freight and other expenses reduced their actual value to less than the amount of the rent of the land that produced them. These small tenants lived in wretched huts, and their condition would have been much better

had they been day-labourers. Except in the immediate neighbourhood of a market, or with ready aCCeS8 to one by means of steam, a small tenant can do nothing, and, if he have anything to lose, will assuredly lose it. Ile might do better were his rent reserved in produce ; but this would not suit his landlord. Nothing more common than for men who have saved money as hired servants to throw it away in an attempt to set up for thenrelves, to which they are Impelled by the desire to be their own masters; and they have ultimately to begin again, after

having almost broken their hearts by hard work- Labouring men sometimes 'sit down' on waste land in the bosh, paying no rent whatever; but even this does not answer, and they soon throw up their clearing in disgust. Hence, to encourage a rural population, markets must be created, and this is as yet the work of the flock-masters.

"We journeyed no, and visited a settler who lived to the Southward of Ilortiya, in a kind of debateable land, but on the same footing with a squatter. It cost him twenty pounds to put up his house, which contained three roomsaadakitchen, and was built of slabs, and covered with bark. lie had fenced in two or three paddocks; and here he resided with a pleasant wife, one or two children, and a neat and good-tempered Irish servant girl. On his 'run,' (or his portion of the wild land,) which consisted of rich flats naturally clear, fed his cattle and horses. He was a stout and sterling Yorkshireman, a chip of the real good old block, and had been a farmer from his childhood. He told me that he had never seen finer land than that on which he was located, but that he had had enough, and too much, of farming in the bush, and then only raised such produce as his own family consumed. Milk and butter were plentiful with him, as also geese, fowls, ducks, and potatoes. His roast goose was rich and rare; and one of the party, who had not seen such a dish for many a day, earnestly begged, as a particular favour, to be allowed the privilege of carving it. His potatoes were very fine, and he said that he could produce them in any quantity; but their sale in Sydney, after deducting freight and such like expenses, would give him only a few shillings a ton. He also said that if he grew wheat it would be at a loss. Whilst I was in the colony, the price of wheat varied from two shillings and ninepence to six shillings a bushel, but was generally about four shillings. I believe that wheat from Valparaiso can be delivered in the harbour at Sydney at or under five shil- lings a bushel, duty included."

Besides such grave and practical topics, there are others of a lighter kind,—anecdotes illustrative of the "natives," or colony-born; sketches of society, especially out of town ; accounts of the aborigines, deriving novelty from Mr. Townsend's mind, though not absolutely new in matter ; many descriptions of scenery, and the animals or birds that enliven it, which will remind the reader of White's or Jesse's painting, with the advantage of Australian newness. On a doubtful point of the book, a frequent quotation from the Georgics, the author pleads an apology for the apparent pedantry, in the real truth of the parallel. Sometimes this truth is only general, as in the case of bees; at other times the parallel is curious; and the quotations have always a literary interest. But we

suspect the resemblances are rather ideal where they are not general. There can be little in common between the Italian "swains" of the Au-

gustan age and the lower class of settlers at Botany Bay.